After CBI Director Alok Verma’s counsel Fali Nariman on Thursday, 29 November, argued in the Supreme Court that the former was appointed for a fixed tenure of two years and cannot even be transferred, the Central Government said this decision falls within the ambit of the Centre’s power.
Attorney-General KK Venugopal said that the selection committee doesn't actually appoint the CBI Director, so this question of them being the only authority that can take action against the director doesn't arise.
Challenging the government's decision, Verma’s counsel and senior advocate Fali S Nariman said Verma was appointed on 1 February, 2017 and "the position of law is that there will be a fixed tenure of two years and this gentleman cannot be even transferred".
Making his submission before a bench comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi, Justices S K Kaul and K M Joseph, the advocate said there was no basis for the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) to pass such an order recommending to send him on leave.
He read out the CVC order divesting Verma of his powers and said the CVC had no authority to do this without approaching the special committee.
There has to be strict interpretation of the Vineet Narain judgment. This is not the transfer and Verma has been denuded of his power and duties...otherwise there was no use of the Narain judgement and the law.Fali Nariman
The Vineet Narain decision, delivered by the apex court in 1997, relates to the investigation of allegations of corruption against high-ranking public officials in India.
Before 1997, the tenure of the CBI director was not fixed and they could be removed by the government in any manner. But the apex court in the Vineet Narain judgment fixed a tenure of a minimum of two years for the CBI director to allow the officer to work with independence.
While the AG said that the selection committee was not empowered to appoint CBI chief, he also moved to whether or not the action taken against Verma amounted to a transfer (which can only be done by the selection committee under section 4B (2).
According to him, it doesn't, and instead falls within the ambit of the Centre's power of superintendence over the CBI.
(With inputs from PTI)
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